Ticking Cosmic
by Irkala
Summary: A series of bizarre and grisly occurrences lead to an insidious crossroads at the edge of humanity's ascension.
1. Chapter 1

**.**

 **Ticking Cosmic**

 **I**

 **The Grey Pilgrimage**

Nothing had steeled my nerves for what was to come-

-although I imagine, there was little that could.

A hunt and its gruesome closeness to the insidious machinations that slithered to the surface from deep inside of the Yharnam people. Funny, I hear they might be fighting an uphill battle there.

Many went before me, and many have fallen behind. I had signed a contract though. You see an ailment had begun sapping my health, and with rapid potency at that. I had heard that there were a myriad of ways in Yharnam to receive this sort of, mystic transfusion and cure any withering poison. My curiosity was piqued about this 'holy blood' of the healing church above. Despite some shady echoes from the neighboring areas, I was curious to test this _blood ministration_ , even if the hunter's moon shown bright. I figured as long as I stayed off of the main streets and kept to the rumored routes to this crimson salvation of sorts, I wouldn't have to shed blood sickly like. It was a bit frightening to be journeying somewhere so dangerous on rumor, but it would be indeed be worth the payoff.

Trusting the route I'd taken down I followed and followed until I found the place thankfully, not before seeing more than a few horrid and eerie forms along the sides of the country roads, menacingly staring into me, gazing into my mind with gaunt and hollow expressions out of their dying houses and shacks. Approaching the inner city there was a sick silence that hung on the air. A few of the people I'd encountered even screamed garble at me, crumpling into delirious heaps among the coffins and their respective black carriages. When I finally made it into the city and beyond, the coffins increased in number tenfold, and the stench of fetid decay was near omnipresent. The amount of lunatics and their malformed figures also went up. I made quick sure to keep my eyes locked on my feet and the stone road below them, being swift more than a few times to dodge some potential trouble. Making it to the clinic I was more than relieved, and practically nodded myself into the process without really listening to what I was signing up for. The old man assured me I'd feel better, that I'd be better – faster, stronger, more durable, a perfect candidate for the hunt. I didn't know if I could believe all of his saying, but I could fancy the idea at least I figured.

His voice and face hidden in shadow, blurred into half remembered tones and images among the transfusions processes, eerily echoing in my mind among almost sinister and unintelligible whispers. I fell under into a darkly dream. This back alley transfusion of sorts could have gone both ways for me, but the way I saw it, there was little choice. With that I had grimly stared into the void; oh how my blood churned, polluted and consumed with a new and potent catalyst of the oldest and most dubious source. I didn't really understand it a whole lot, and frankly there wasn't much information about anyhow. That wasn't important though, what mattered was my dwindling sickness and new purpose here in this new land: hunt.

The problem was that I wasn't much of a hunter; the few beasts under my belt were in tandem with other, much better hunters. To make matters worse, I had heard that around Yharnam there were.. mutations, variables of the beast plague that grow to immense and sickly phantasmal proportions. I had no interest in any of that, and hoped to stick to the sidelines with the mass, taking out the scourge's minor waves among the bloody rubble that was beginning to swallow the city. The larger ones were for the crazy hunters, the masochists with a beast's sadism under their nails. Quickest to transform into one of them I say, and here more than ever.

Tis' a shame, a beauty shimmers eerily off the tops of the almost heavenly architecture, scraping under the Gods' feet in blasphemous splendor.

Waking up I was instantly assaulted with that all too sickly blood smell, blackness, a few murmured voices. Something was wrong, the transfusion wasn't finished and I was slipping away.

 _There was a beautiful house. A hunched figure in the distance. Images moving beyond my control._

 _A small and quaint line of gravestones ascended around a dirt bend up and before me, the green of shrubs and their surrounding trees hazily bordering. All was concealed in fog under a looming moon, enormously shimmering overhead. A crisp air made my skin tighten as I took in its sweet scent, or rather series of scents.. Flowers and rich earth, old wood and the faint hint of.. blood._

I awoke to a scream. A woman, somewhere else in the clinic. The old man was calling my name, or rather – hunters in general, somewhere towards the front.

"Outside outside! We got a few dogs workin' roun' the side 'ere lads!"

I grabbed my cleaver off the nearby table. I could hear footsteps, and even a few shouts and other sounds crashing out front. I wasn't too excited in all honesty. Still groggy from the transfusion I was almost unable to even stand, let alone fight. But I owed them this, Yharnam this really, perhaps we all did to an extent. Each hunter did it for their own reasons, wherever they came from. In Yharnam they have them doing it for a second chance made right, to rid the blessed city of this all too sinister blight.

"Aye! A _beast_!"

I froze. Screams and louder crashes reeled to my ears across the clinic.

This was it. I became very aware of my surroundings all of a sudden. The profuse amounts of blood staining glass beakers and wooden work tables alike were almost dizzying. Books upon books rested on their shelves nearby, no doubt the genesis of the academia tinted scent that sat quietly behind the blood's pungent own. I almost found a comfort in the place, a sort of healing calm worked through me. If not for the odor of death and sight of crimson stains every direction and which way, it would be where I'd prefer to work on this huntsman's eve. Alas, my cleaver weighed on my side for a reason I suppose. I was quick with it, but was I quick enough? I wasn't sure. I hadn't any idea what to expect.

As I approached the front, weaving around mattresses and their equipment and down a dimly lit staircase, I heard a cry from outside among the slaughter. I say now with the utmost certainty and zealotry some of the local Healing Church's disciples emanate in their power – or so I've heard amongst some local disgruntled whispers here or there – that never, at any point in my life had I heard a wallowing cry that made my heart freeze in its faceless pulse like what rang through the air that evening. I stopped dead in the doorway, the men outside went silent as well. I had my hand halfway to the handle, shaking in silence. I could see their silhouettes through the window, frozen still in morbid curiosity. I was the same, but trembling, my mind awash with images of the demented and horrid undead things I ran into along the journey here. The cry rang out again. Cobwebs and dust circled in the candle lit air and I simply couldn't move.

It was an eerie concoction of audio geometries I say, human and beast working in perfect sync, vibrating in tongues I've never heard before or could even dream of. A deep and guttural growl tearing out of a screaming girls form. I shuttered; this was one of the big ones, one of _them._

"Aye hunters! Listen ere'! The cathedrals got its fair share er' crazies! That cry was non' oter n' Amelia 'erself. Blasphemous werebeast out uh the infernos I tell ya!" I could hear some slurring here or there, if I had more evidence, I'd be certain our old friend was a bit drunk. Can't say I blame him with this mess. "We got our own church to curse fer that noise!"

I watched the forms move and walk off, some splitting in opposite directions and every other tangent. I stood still in that doorway all the same. Another long and terrifying wail screamed out from the sky. My heart near stopped. I couldn't do this, I was not a hunter of those scales of beast.

 _Coward._

No, I needed this. I pushed through the door and stepped out, the old man gone. Strange, I hadn't even seen him step off. The air was thick with smoke, rot, _death._ I pulled my a scarf up, my favorite one; my mother had given it to me a long time ago. I smelled home in the cloud of demise that sat in that sweet Yharnam air. I began walking towards the cathedral, or at least a cathedral, only visible in the far off distance. I could see mobs with torches far up the path, beyond the coffins and small fires here or there. Some beastly hybrids scurrying in the shadows among them and off to the sides; the state of things was declining hastily. Their voices sounded abhorrently disfigured sometimes, making sounds that barely bordered on human. Backwards realities were breaking into existence here and with little sign of slowing down.

The wailing broke through the air once more, my steps slowing as I ached at the realization it was closer. That thing was _closer._

 _Amelia_? One of the few coherent words I could easily make out in the old man's screaming beyond the door.

My speed picked up at this point, the fear in me was all too strong now. My blood thirsted for the carnage – what was this thirst? I quickly dispatched of a few reeling runoffs from the mobs, trying my best to keep from the minor spatter here or there. I didn't want contamination, but deep down I knew I was already at least somewhat stained. I was a bit pleased to be quick on my feet still, maybe even faster like the old man said. My weapon cut down the beasts and their kin all the same. Still, I could swear I tasted that growing death in the air I was breathing, morbidly dancing on my tongue in delirium. I had turned and began sprinting down an alley. I saw it turned right up the bend, past a few tightly shut doors and their curious owners staring out at us. This was hopefully bringing me closer to the cathedral and at least a few others of my new found legal kin. I wasn't much alone but in numbers perhaps I could at least assist.

Just then saw a shape up ahead, just beyond an opening back into the streets. Black, sullen, avian, a strange humanoid bird sat silently. It was kneeling down behind a crate, staring up and out into the road. The wail once more blessed our ears in sinister grace overhead, to my confirmation, closer.

"You're not a very quiet hunter lad, a bit green still eh? Hm," a soft voice chuckled from the dark form. I slowed to a stop a few feet behind her. I wasn't sure what I had run into. She sounded a lot older, and I couldn't help but feel almost a sense of a warm relief, although strangers were always dangerous in this environment.

"That sound, that demon - many good men are off to take er' down. Not many will come back, or any at all honestly. 'Er strength is immense. You know hunter, your comrades need you now more than ever. You can't be here shakin' under your cape."

She was right, but I didn't have the slightest chance of being any help directly. I needed to be there for them though.

"How do I get there? Is it – is it up there?" I asked, approaching a few steps. I smelled death all of a sudden. Peering through a coffin door's crack on the right, I saw the rotting genesis that had become all too familiar to me. I was truly in the land of the dead.

"Through more than a few alleys you'll have to run I reckon'. You know –" she stopped. I stared and waited for her to continue. She remained silent however, suddenly standing up. Daggers appeared in her hands behind her suddenly, and I stepped back a bit, grabbing my cleavers handle shakily. I probably wouldn't stand much a chance against someone this confident in this hell. Up ahead, beyond her, a small and hairy humanoid approached down the road, its eyes aglow with a strange light. Then another appeared, and another as well, their small footsteps - or rather their claws - echoing on the blood drenched cobble roads below their feet. It was a small group.

I heard footsteps behind me, grunts. It was them, beastly snarls and hissing just behind us and around the alley corner. They had surrounded us, what force directed them I mused, sickly anxious now. Just as quickly the woman turned to me. I was a bit tensed at first: a long beak and red gleaming goggled eyes stared at me under the crowed shawl and pointed hat. This was the most alien hunter I'd ever seen. She had an almost deathly aura to her as well, but one in grace I'd argue.

"Hunter, we're in trouble."

"What?"

She raised her hand, a small gloved finger raised up. I felt my eyes widen, the sheer terror at what she was hinting at was almost unbearable right then and there. Slowly looking up, I heard a strange shuffling above as my eyes locked on what was up looking down at us. They were not prepared for any of this, for what abomination of nature's most warped constructs had culminated up on that roof. The beasts below, us below, squeezed tightly in the alley and surrounded by death. Above, a great white demon sat and stared down, wolf like in its immense and bandaged figure. Great gleaming eyes somewhat showing under a garment of sorts, I couldn't help but wonder how it could see well at all. Frightening more, I saw an almost sinister smile on its face, curled black lips around razor sharp, enormous and blood stained teeth. Long arms with equally giant claws clenched the roof's edge, their nails shimmering in the eerie light in the sky. Large horn like things sprouted from behind its canine ears, antler like, _unnatural_ like. It reeled back, raising its head and belting out the loudest and most mind shattering howl I'd ever heard, absolute dread almost broke me right there, and I nearly fell to my knees had not the woman grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the way we came.

"We haven't the time to wait around and chat it would seem," she said, stopping for a second. She reached in her coat and pulled out a small glass, a firebomb of sorts I quickly learned. The small wolf like things had moved in, the monstrosity above leering down at us, silently steering the grim horde. She tossed it up, right near the beast above incidentally. I froze, watching in awe; a bullet from a suddenly appearing revolver in her other hand launched up the bottles shaft looking down at us above, exploding in cleansing fire on the beast's face. It was very impressive to say the least; she was an expert marksman it would seem.

The beast screamed and howled once more, the creatures in the alley at our perimeter now. Suddenly the area in front and behind me exploded into fire and noise, the creatures scurrying in every opposite direction, the few unfortunate ones struck lay and burned. She had began tossing firebomb after firebomb every way her arms could throw, quite prepared for this potential situation it would seem. We weaved in and around the small explosions at a lightning like speed. She hurried me alongside her as the beasts confusedly attacked and swiped at the smoke and sound, her gunshots picking them off and out of our way. I helped with the cleaver when I could, although for the most part, I happily let her lead the way. The white demon, that Amelia, had long since disappeared a few rooftops back now. I could only sickly calculate where she was, prowling just outside our sight. Hopefully this hunter could get us to safety.

I was more than pleased I had found her. This was the type of companion one simply couldn't pass up now.


	2. Chapter 2

**.**

 **II**

 **Approaching Divinity**

"Aye hunter, what should I call you?" I said, gasping for air as we stopped briefly at an opening. The wolf men had fallen behind it would seem, as had _Amelia._ Still struggling to catch my breath, I realized how out of shape I still was, despite my new found speed and prowess.

We had been running for what felt like forever, across more than a few burning masses of the crucified dead, through labyrinthine like alleyways and gothic stone gazes looming down on us from up above. I couldn't forget the moaning, the screaming, the insidious cries that rang out from the sealed doors we ran past, the whirring of bloodshed and creatures almost coalescing in the sick evening light. Yet the awe inspiring and shimmering architecture of Yharnam was still a beautiful sight to behold, and a small part of me still found itself sightseeing, albeit _dreadfully_ carefully. But here we stopped and savored the silence, graves peppering the grounds around us. Decaying and sickly plant life crawled up and around the old stone, almost consuming it in a withering brown.

"Eileen," she replied, pausing for a second and turning quietly to a stone staircase just a few steps away, "Don't get me confused with ye hunter, I'm not one of your kind."

I swallowed somewhat nervously, realizing my new ally was still not to fully be trusted in all rational thought.

"Well I owe you my thanks all the same. I wouldn't have made it out of there without you," I replied, leaning up against a squat obelisk. I saw glimpses of cleric's and vicar's names scribbled proudly onto the surrounding stones, fading with time and wear all the same however. This may have been a local church burial site. Considering what I kept hearing about this 'Healing Church,' I couldn't shake an uncomfortable drop in my stomach upon seeing their emboldened names.

"No thanks needed lad. I will warn you we will part ways soon enough though, as I've my own purpose 'ere among you hunters."

Or rather _, 'hoonters'._

What a peculiar and almost rosy accent. People travel from all over to come here. I hadn't even considered she was a fair foreigner like me. As for her intentions, among everything else around me, I could only guess.

"Firstly though, we ought to at least move into the city past the riffraff. I must admit though, that white demon's cries have a few times screamed out from the higher elevations near the ward and cathedral itself. A great mass of beastly might bellows from that center. Not just 'ers either, no there's more than a few monstrosities amassin' up there. We need to get you closer to your comrades, and me – well, I've my own business to attend to." She took out her bizarrely curved daggers, quietly staring down at them in her small, black hands. Small mobs and their torches were visible here or there off in the distance and through the iron gates surrounding us and this solemn graveyard, a resting place of the dead within a land of dead things supreme. The journey to huntsman glory hadn't even come close to finishing and I already felt my finality within _very_ near reach.

And these other monstrosities? I'd rather not.

My gaze had moved a ways over to the stones again. Eventually, in that bloody silence, my eyes met something that they couldn't look away from. Atop the obelisk I leaned against in fact, barely remaining with ages of weathering, was a scribbling of some sort of warning.

" _Fear the old blood"_

How cryptic. Old blood – a blood used in the transfusions? Old blood of who? Looking around, I saw this inscribed on a few of the stones. Had this been a common reminder among the church?

I whispered it under my breath, the words sparking my lips upon exodus, as if murmuring some curse of an equally dubious genesis.

Below was a relief that looked similar to a ringing bell of sorts. The Healing Church had its own respects and customs that beyond the unsuspecting people below I imagine, outsiders even moreso are alien to. This man most likely understood a bit more than most of the population did about these bizarre blood rituals I imagine; I almost envy the knowledge, yet somehow I felt ignorance would once again prove to be a preferable bliss in this case.

"Enough wasting precious light, it's now or never lad," Eileen said, heading towards the gate on the opposite end of us. I looked through the bars, making my way towards her; a long and morbidly dim road, a cold stain on the fiery air.

"Aye," I replied, just behind her now. I was ready, or rather, ready to get it over with. She'd lead the way, and I'd do what I could to assist.

And that was that. We began an anxious run down the road and were once more weaving through alleys. The all too familiar coffins and beast warped corpses lining the sides of the streets and alleys were beginning to get maddeningly ubiquitous at this point. Amelia's cries had died off however, if only for a bit. The wolf men thankfully followed suit. Finally our running had slowed to a jog and then a comfortable stop, hitting a large iron fence. Through it was the cathedral. I couldn't even attempt to express how relieved I was. We'd been fortunate enough to dodge trouble almost completely on our way here, taking out a few foolish and bumbling attackers here or there. Now this fence was the only thing standing between us and the closest thing to a safe haven we had. The cathedral was enormous, and absolutely gorgeous in its noble light.

"Do you think other hunters made it here?" I said, watching her getting atop the fence.

"That's for you to find out hunter. We part ways here," she replied, hopping down.

"W-wait, is that it then?" I stammered.

She chuckled, taking a few steps off on her own, "I'm not your mother lad. Pick up that cleaver; a hunter must hunt." With that she began heading down the road, no doubt chasing alleys once more for whatever elusive mark she seemed to be so cryptically be searching for.

"I'm in your debt. Thank you," I called out to her somber form disappearing into the off road shadows.

She raised her hand for a small wave, never once turning back. Her confidence was rather inspiring, albeit intimidating. I wanted to be that strong, but this place; I'd never seen anything like this. I jumped the fence. Around the cathedral there was plant life. I couldn't shake something was off about it. That brown and deathly hue I'd seen earlier was all the more pronounced here. Rot and decay ruled these disturbed grounds with the utmost viciousness. I smelled a faint air of an incense of some sort. It was rather calming actually, and I felt more than a little drawn. As I crossed that road though, as my body so desperately looked for others, for life, for safety, I heard that cry once more. Amelia was still about, and she was _close._ In fact, the cry was so close that I was almost certain she was most likely directly observing me. I began a hasty dash to the cathedral's doors. Just then an enormous crash shook the ground below me. All of the nearby coffins and whatnot were obliterated, a shockwave leveling the area including myself. My ears rang with a sickly pulse as I tried to focus my eyes through the dust cloud. I recognized that scent, that sound, that shuffling. The bodies that had rested in the coffins were now lying about in macabre display, some of their bodies warped and distorted with the beast's scourge. A miasma of fire and rot had invaded my nose all the more emphasized and I struggled to keep my wits sharp for the horrible thing before me. It was none other than the white demon herself, the corrupt Amelia.

I pulled my pistol and fired a round aimed straight at her face, even grazing her snout. She didn't even flinch, in fact she got rather agitated very quickly, her lips curling into a grim snarl. I had made a critical mistake trying to take this one on.

She didn't forget who had hurt her a ways back, the burns from the firebomb still visible on her face, her singed fur and what appeared to be a blindfold of some sort told tales of fire. I hadn't seen her this up close before, and the blindfold was a bizarre new detail I struggled to comprehend among the other obscene characteristics of this beast. She was a violent and dangerous puzzle; what here in Yharnam wasn't though?

Suddenly her roar broke once more and she leapt through the air, her enormous claws poised and ready. There was no doubt here, she aimed to rip me apart. I turned around and began scoping where I could move to in what little time I had. Just as spontaneous, a large and eerie light lit the space in front of me, just next to the fence actually. A nearby gravestone began lighting up and vibrating – in fact suddenly the entire area was pulsing and singing. It was a strange purple, a glowing blue purple color that didn't quite make any sense at all on the eye. I was more than a bit disturbed. Then I remembered the beast directly above me. I had few choices for evasion, even worse the space around me was cluttered with all sorts of obstacles. I dashed backwards as fast as I could, pulling my pistol and checking the sky for my canine executioner. It all happened at great speed, and I dropped to my tail end seeing her still above me crashing down, claws out and prepared. She fell straight down, yet was still actually a small distance from me thankfully. She did not swipe however, in fact she actually appeared somewhat concerned, and even began backing off a bit while simultaneously, the bizarre light began flickering and lifting off of the ground. Amelia clearly didn't much care for the phenomenon taking place in front of us, although neither did I frankly, and quickly got up, stepping back a bit with her. She drew back and roared a deep and just as ferocious sonic blast, turning and leaping onto a low hanging roof. Her grotesque form disappeared over another rooftop just as quickly as it had appeared.

The purple light _._ I'd almost forgotten. I needed to get away from it, from there, from all of the horrible things that keep finding their way around out in this hellish landscape. I ran to the door and stopped. I felt something, a sensation, an ominous burning in my gut. Something was wrong, or rather, off. I couldn't put my finger on it, and frankly didn't want to stay outside and ponder the possibilities. The area though, the buildings, something was watching us, something leered down on us from above. I wanted to look, to scan, even knowing Amelia was gone, but I couldn't ignore the grim apprehension in me. That strange colored light still hung in my mind's eye, burned into it. I couldn't shake it, I couldn't forget its curious and alluring glow. It beckoned me. I needed to get to safety, I needed solace. With that I stopped my inappropriately timed musing and finally pushed forward. The soothing incense's scent on the air was getting more and more potent, and finally inside I stopped to savor it to an extent. The ceiling was up in darkness. Large and beautiful cathedral windows breathed in the Yharnam light as if through a holy filter, gracing my path and the dark tint of the cathedral's desolate and morbid quiet. Candles littered the ground and gave small light as well, smoking among the sweet incense's touch. Nearby, atop a small raised area, was a tiny lantern with a ghostly white/violet tint. I approached, taking quick note of a small shape down and towards the other end, a staircase going down visible in a faint torch light. The shape was off to the side, near a large collection of pots.

It moved. The shape moved.

It wasn't immediately threatening, and I started approaching it, just as suddenly remembering the lantern. I halted, entranced by its light upon turning to it. It was eerily hypnotic, like the strange light outside that my almost-executioner and I had made brief contact with, yet this was much more comforting to look at. I stared into it, and slowly sat down. It was so pleasing to rest, and I closed my eyes, the lantern's warmth still nudging my skin. I dreamt, or rather, I drifted off to a dream. The same one that I'd glimpsed during the transfusion. It felt like going home. I smiled at the warmth as my consciousness faded out, as the cathedral, Eileen, Amelia, the monstrosities around us, and the even the unknown shape only a few steps away from me dissipated with almost ease. I was a lot more tired than I thought, and within very little time I found myself back at that darkly autumn kissed garden of the night; that hunter's dream.


	3. Chapter 3

**.**

 **III**

 **The Withering Exodus**

I found myself staring at my boots, paying close attention to the bloody details painted on them.

My gaze slowly found its way up, and I once again saw that same line of gravestones, that beautiful house, that person just beyond the fog. My legs, as if moving on their own pulled me forward. I felt a faint hint of apprehension again, but knowing the cathedral and Amelia were a long ways away – or at least felt like they were – I couldn't help but feel at least a small amount of relief.

The fog was so dense. The large house beyond and up the path eerily stared down on me making my way towards it. As I approached, I realized the shape wasn't moving. An ominous figure in the waking world just beyond my unconscious body I had just remembered – and now another form here in the dream world perhaps beckoning me to the murky beyond? There truly was no solace. Yet as I got closer, I realized that the thing before me was not quite human. I felt an immediate wash of sheer terror, almost just as quickly rebounding with a quiet curiosity. Slowly, vision revealed that it was a not a creature, but a woman. I promptly realized she was a bit taller than me; and while she had a rather empty and stoic expression on her almost deathly pale face, I couldn't help but feel an odd sense of warmth from deep behind her almost shimmering eyes. Dressed warmly in local dress and a rather darling bonnet wrapped around her head, she was quite a nice contrast to look at considering the trail of sinister creatures and warped death so prominent in Yharnam. Angelic like blond hair lightly reflected the enormous nearby moon's light, a final and ethereal compliment to what seemed to be none other than a ghost of sorts, or perhaps, a seraph of the macabre.

"Who goes there?" I murmured, almost whispering out of a held back uncertainty.

The woman tilted her head a bit, lightly stepping forward or rather, gliding as the spirits themselves. I still couldn't help but dread the notion that my humors were more than wrong, and the being before me was malicious enough to be right at home on Yharnam's streets. My cleaver buzzed at my side.

"Hello, good Hunter." Her voice was so soft, and gently graced my ears almost hypnotically.

"I am a doll. Chase the blood's echoes and allow me to strengthen your withering soul."

She spoke naught a thing I grasped, and her title of 'good hunter' somewhat stuck in my side, a reminder of the road before me in reality – or wherever Yharnam is in relation to this surreal and dreary paradise.

"I'm not sure I understand miss," I replied, briefly losing myself in the enormous moons glow above.

"Hunt the monstrosities beyond, return and gain strength in blood; with haste hunter. _Heh heh_ ," a voice wheezed just beyond the fog's veil. The doll remained silent and slowly turned, looking up the stairs ahead. To the other path, aside from the morbid climb along the gravestones, was a straight staircase up into the house. As I moved a few steps forward, just ahead of the doll, I saw a sitting shadow at the top. It appeared to be an old man, a very old man. While the fog covered most of his details, I could still make out his somber aura fleshed out in his worn clothing; a beaten yet somehow fashionable hat rested on his head. His skin looked a deathly grey, and the intricate wrinkles carved into his face signaled a vicious and rather tiring life. With the right lighting he would look like death himself I speculated. I chuckled briefly, although the thought wasn't too funny in reality.

"Where am I?" I spat out, finally finding words in me.

"It's all a Hunter's dream good hunter, but from here you can fortify and strengthen your weapons and abilities. It's for your own good I'd argue," he faintly chuckled again, "I am Gehrman, welcome."

 _Gehrman?_

His voice sounded so weathered and weary. How long had he been here I wondered?

I hadn't any blood on me, none that I thought they wanted anyhow. I suppose I didn't fully understand yet. As I pondered this the world began growing hazy. Looking down at my feet I saw the ground pulse, and I began realizing I was going back, back to Yharnam, back to those monsters and that white demon, Amelia. I was terrified, but somewhat relieved. As I awoke, I looked back up at the doll, at Gehrman, at that enormous moon. Something stared down at me from beyond. That feeling I'd gotten outside the cathedral, that ominous dread, it was here. The moon, or something _else._

Incense.

Shuffling screams blocks away. I was indeed back.

I quickly got up and turned to the other unknown shape, the warmth of the lantern still on my skin. It was barely visible in the cathedral's candlelight. I slowly approached, down a small set of stairs and weaving around some of the clutter. It was indeed a creature of sorts, but it looked up at me in a strange terror I certainly didn't expect. I quickly reacted though, still a bit on edge, and pulled my cleaver.

"Stop! Wait please sir! I am no threat!" It raised long spindly hands. Its legs were gone, or a body altogether. Its face was near dead, covered in a crimson hood and shadowed in deathly finesse.

I froze. I was completely caught off guard by speech.

"Wh-who – what?" I stammered.

It grunted, clearing its throat, "I'm a friend indeed sir! Are you a hunter? I was hoping more would come through. A few of your comrades have been through here but… well none have returned. I passed 'em a message and I shall pass you one as well friend. Survivors and the like, bring 'em here. They're safe among these holy walls _ha ha."_

That laugh, not something that was easily trusted. Yet he seemed benign enough, albeit _very_ unfortunate looking.

"What – happened to you?" I asked, still a bit uncertain.

"Well, people in Yharnam are goin' bad. Seems a curse is afoot with the blood sport and whatnot. I was among the unlucky I s'pose. I swear I just want to help hunter, please believe me." His empty, white eyes still conveyed a warm honesty to me in some bizarre fashion I couldn't quite describe _._ I didn't see any weapons on him, or even blood. This really could be a safe place, after all my unconscious body sat here for some time unguarded. I still didn't understand the hunter's dream, or how the lantern guided my mind there. I turned to its soft glow nearby, hazy lilac swirls pulsed and dilated from its ghostly frame.

"Right, I'll do my best," I replied, nearly stammering. I quickly looked over to the entrance. The grey and yawning gloom rested omnipresent outside. I didn't imagine I'd be finding a lot of survivors out there anyhow.

"Oh gracious! Wonderful hunter. Thank you. The remaining need shelter yeah?"

He was right, although still a strangely kindred spirit for such a morbid environment. I wanted to trust him, and he seemed deserving enough. His state was a sad one though, and I shuttered at what horrible incantations warped this poor man's body to this macabre shade.

With that I nodded, and turning to the door I came in, gave a small parting wave. I briefly recalled Eileen, the crow woman. I hoped she fared well.

Leaving this safe haven was not an idea I truly wanted to embrace.

 _A hunter must hunt._

 _Hunt the monstrosities beyond._

My identity as a hunter was still fairly new to me in all honesty, at least since the procedure. Here, now, everything wanted me to pursue this rather grim task. I hadn't a choice, or even time to consider, just a looming dread and curiosity.

I was ready. Yharnam was just before me. It was time to join the hunt.


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

 **IV**

 **Iconoclast**

With that I was off.

I took a few steps out into the somber Yharnam air. Amelia was long gone, and the decaying carriages and plant life seemed all the more wilted since I was last out. The sun was beginning to fall now however, time was indeed running out for daylight. I scanned up a large set up stairs to my immediate right; I had glimpsed it when Eileen and I had hopped the fence. I saw movement up towards the top, no doubt trouble.

I thought I saw the top of a larger cathedral spire far up ahead past the top. This was no doubt the church Amelia allegedly loomed around, assuming Eileen was not wrong.

Beginning my climb, I weaved around some more deformed corpses long dead on the sides, ravaged by the obscenely large crows I've seen spotting the ground here or there. As I approached the middle of the staircase I saw enclosing activity; three tall men approached. None of them looked the slightest bit human, or rather, they appeared as pale and gaunt as the dark clouds so sinister overhead. Long coats and wide hats confirmed these may have been some of the churches turned. They all had long, sharpened, metallic canes of some sort, and I quickly noticed the stains of blood so present on their shine. Logically, I probably couldn't take all three, but perhaps through some leading I could clear a path.

I slowly stepped back as they came closer, suddenly noticing the one in the back lighting up. He glowed a purple, a certain purple, that _dreamy lilac._ As one of the front most moved to the side however, I glimpsed a large and glowing lantern in the hands of the farthest back. Not quite like the one that had taken me away to the hunter's dream, it was not that benign unfortunately. I had to grab the nearby rail as I kept retreating, their formation staying just as grimly solid. The lantern made a hissing sound and I couldn't help but freeze a little bit. Its glow brightened, and suddenly three, large glowing orbs gently glided out of its vicinity. I'd never seen anything like it; beasts and creatures were one thing, but such blatant magicks? I was not mentally prepared – although the events that had only just recently transpired had noted a sort of seasoning for this kind of absurdity. The sinister lights drew near faster than they were, and quickly I had to weave between them, putting myself right at the trio's frontline. I had two options here; try a full fledge evasive escape, or clip one or two. I could sense my spirit's bloodlust, or maybe, _newfound_ bloodlust. There was simply no way I was getting through without engaging.

My maneuvering putting me near the front-left, the respective assailant raised his weapon with a long and unearthly moan. It was time to make due. I swung my cleaver in a quick backwards arc, slashing his throat, promptly following up with a pistol round to the face. The creature staggered off to the side, just as I spotted the front-right following suit, the one in the back lifting his lantern for another ethereal volley.

I did a quick hop backwards, firing another round at the front-right's face. Striking a critical point, it fell to its knees, dropping its weapon. The one nearby behind was still down as well; this left me with ample space to deal with the remaining enemy, who's lantern leered another series of pulses. I ducked under and dashed by, bringing my opened cleaver across his ankles in transit. He dropped like any other beast, and I kept going, never looking back once. There was a need to keep moving, to keep lusting, to keep on this hunt. I felt incredible. The man was right; this newfound speed, strength, sharpness – I used to only dream of hunting like this.

 _Magic blood indeed._

I kept a sprint across another empty stone courtyard. I stopped only briefly to check if they were following me. Thankfully I saw nothing of the sort.

So I kept moving forward, keeping a mad dash up a thin and tucked away staircase. The grand cathedral was that much closer now, and I knew Amelia and all of her decrepit children were just as well. I tried to ignore that turning a corner at the stair's top, only to hit another set of steps. Climbing these, I found the main staircase, the path to the holy temple. They were wide and lined with torches. There were paths off to the sides here or there, and I shuttered at the horrors that could lurk just beyond these grounds. That all aside though, it was impossible to ignore the committee that welcomed me towards the top, behind them a great door to the cathedral.

Guarding the building appeared to be more of the church's dead, but holding not the canes the others had, or even the mystic lantern, but rather large and obtuse wooden crosses of some sort. The men stared blankly down at me, their crosses glowing a bizarre and light red tint. I would've been somewhat comfortable trying to take them on, especially with this new confidence that might very well be the death of me, but the obscenely large creature down and a little closer to me on the grand steps quickly took away any inkling of bravery. Here was a large and hunched corpse of some sort, dressed in a white. In its right hand was a giant, blood stained axe, gleaming in the torchlight, almost whispering what viscera and gore it had planned for me. Yet the most fascinating detail of this creature I briefly amused, was the small black hat so neatly resting on its head. Almost a dark joke of sorts, it had a sort of class to its macabre aura. I had seen so many confusing things just today, but these were indeed among the oddest dangers.

Truthfully however, I knew taking that thing on was almost guaranteed death. I needed to get past it and into the cathedral regardless. I found myself at an odd crossroads. On one hand, I could take Amelia and her children on face first – despite her being much more menacing then the well-dressed chap in front of me. This took an amount of assumption though, as this direction was only based on other hunters. I wasn't truthfully sure if others had made it up here, or if there were any inside – or if even she was. Even if there were, they could all be dead.

She'd been awfully silent if she was; I hadn't heard her unsettling screams in some time.

 _None of them returned._

I hadn't forgotten the warnings. Perhaps I would be of better use elsewhere. This was the other hand; I knew that while the countryside was a bit more dangerous in its shadowed and risky territory, there could very well be other hunters who have long since left Yharnam, perhaps forming an organized group of some sort. We could indeed find strength in numbers. This sounded much more in the realm of possible. Had the journey here been for nothing? I wasn't quite sure. Yet I hadn't much time to ponder this, for as I stood there observing the giant, I heard a signature moan, one of none other than the grey men. I didn't check all of my blind spots, another critical mistake. I leapt forward, minding the giant's gaze, thankfully oblivious to me still as it watched to the side. Turning I saw indeed a grey man, but in his hand was yet another new weapon; a giant, ornate and glowing scythe. I didn't have time to really observe it as it was already flying through a quick arc towards me. I didn't have time for this, and there was no way to be quiet with this proximity. I had no choice.

 _Run._

I turned and began my sprint. Still somewhat winded from the last one, I had to think as quickly as I could. One misstep could quite literally be death.

I ignored the fall of the scythe behind me as ran up those stairs, approaching the dead giant. It turned its head, locking eyes with me. Another problem to add to the list. Chains, creaking, groans, all echoed among the surrounding stone walls as the beast began to rise, its axe scraping the ground as if following suit. I kept running, and made a wide circle behind him, his gaze slowly tracking me. I was past him relatively quickly much to my surprise. Yet as I climbed the steps beyond to the grey men and their crosses, I heard a loud scream out from behind me. Glancing behind mid run, the giant's stance had its axe wielding arm pulled all the way back, power evident in every muscle on its form, or rather – lack thereof. Its strength was not a question, and the cry it rang out signaled all the more just how alive and well it really was. In an instant there was yet another, fiercer crash behind me. Dust and debris rained on my form, the ax slamming into the ground had hit so hard and so close that it had knocked me aside. I froze, crouching in awe at the beast's sheer power.

 _Get up. A hunter must hunt._

I quickly started up again, the grey men just before me now. The climb up the stairs had felt eternal considering the mess to get to the top, each platform holding a new danger. Here, just before the entrance, was my pseudo final stop. The one closest to the door began approaching, the other closer to me was already scaling me up however, and quickly swung its cross. I stepped back just in time and it fell before me, inches from my feet. The wood was stained in carnage; who knew how many these 'people' had killed. I was certain I could work around these lumbering assailants all the same though. Yet in my confidence, I left myself open, and the grey man keeping the cross down, shoved it forward in a quick and vicious thrust. The crosses' three sharp points had missed me, yet I had gotten caught in between two of the prongs, and it lifted me up over its head in a mighty swing. The blunt force of its impact had knocked the wind out of me, and my cleaver made a clank as it hit the ground. My stomach dropped; staring down at my weapon now out of reach, I realized how defenseless I actually was. Its face was as empty and hollow as the other's, but his mouth whispered incantations that I couldn't quite make out. Almost as suddenly, it groaned and whipped the cross backwards, throwing my body into a nearby stone wall. I was seeing colors, the wind still escaping my lungs. It chuckled a soft bit, the other now just behind. I was not prepared to die here.

I could taste blood. To top it off, I felt a nausea and uneasiness akin to that paranoia from earlier. Was it the crosses? I had grabbed the prongs during suspension. What was the origin of their red glow anyhow? I feared I may have been poisoned too, and tried to get to my feet. They both lifted up their crosses and began an approach. I had very little time, only just as they braced for attack did I find my balance back and ran. I couldn't go back for my cleaver, and kept full sprint off to one of the side paths. They never chased, they simply stood quietly and watched me disappear around the cathedral's corner. I followed its wall, still dizzy for whatever reason. It's stone was unending, and from the path's ornate railing to the beautiful cathedral side I still found time to appreciate some of the architecture before slumping down.

I couldn't move, I felt violently ill as a matter of fact. Waiting for it to pass, it thankfully did relatively quickly.

There was the entrance to a large cave just off and down a ways. This was the only place I could go this direction, and considering what was behind me, I didn't seem to have much of a choice. Still weaponless, save for a few pistol rounds left, I needed to carefully push on. I got up after a few minutes, once again checking behind just in case. Still alone. Turning back to the cave I followed the stone path down and stepped off into the dying grass just before the cave's maw. This was highly irrational, as there could be any myriad of horrible things waiting inside. I wanted to stay optimistic though, perhaps there were hunters just beyond. Loading my pistol with the remainder I took a deep breath.

A scream - no, Amelia's scream rang out just beyond the walls suddenly. That was all the motivation I needed. I had to keep moving.


	5. Chapter 5

.

 **V**

 **Obsidian Haze**

Rich earth, blood, burning flesh – rather pungent cues to what waited within the cave, or rather, beyond its boundaries.

I had been trekking for only a brief interlude when I happened to catch the opening just down a way. A large and yawning forest whispered out from the fog, silently beckoning me to its insidious dreams. Approaching slowly, still wary on countless reasons, I scanned as far out as I could. There was a light rain, and I couldn't help but enjoy its cool touch on my skin; my crawling flesh and its macabre tint, otherworldly blood seemingly coursing just below.

I could hear shuffling. Whispers, a grunt just beyond the fog wall; I couldn't help but tense up, my hand shakily clutching my pistol. Considering the certain activity ahead, I made sure to back up along the wall leaving the cave, quietly sidling along. The grass was damp and the twigs and branches below my feet softly crunched in molded decay. Blood was still on the air, and I froze hearing a baby crying in the distance. Was I mistaken? No – there was indeed a soft cry just beyond the wood. Was a child in danger? I shuttered at the thought of what monstrosities surely loomed over the young babes unprotected and alone, their parents surely taken by the plague or its bloodshed. Just as suddenly it ceased however, and I kept along the wall, watching faint shadows move between the trees. Some were down awfully low, almost dog like. My heart racing, I circled around a large and crimson spattered tree trunk. There on the other side was a man aiming a rifle out into the woods, no doubt scanning for intruders. I stopped, quickly checking my pistol. Just like that I sent a bullet through the back of his head, the rifle dropping just before him. I knew that wasn't the most subtle thing I could've done in defense, however I couldn't risk ignoring danger with so little ammunition, not without openly embracing certain death. Thankfully, I now at least had a rifle. Every little bit helps after all. All the same, anyone nearby certainly heard the sound of fire, and I needed to make a hasty escape.

I crouched down behind a stump. The dog like shadows had begun moving much more aggressively, their owners most likely whispering hushed orders in so oft beast like tongue. A path was visible just down the way, yet the place was crowded with shadows and ghosts – I couldn't see any feasible openings to make an escape. Again, I should've considered this. What good is enhanced physical prowess if I can barely make coherent judgments? I cursed myself as I scanned down the path a bit, it seemingly quiet save for the nearby creatures.

 _Should I make a run for it?_

A mad dash may very well be the best option, no doubt pursuers would be on my feet for a stretch though. I couldn't risk getting lost with monsters in bloodlust so near, yet staying still was a certain and a coldly absolute death. As the shadows drifted more towards the cave mouth I finally came to my decision.

 _Run._

I hopped down a small slope onto the path, only a few cracks and snaps of some foliage under me. The low walking shadows down the other end stopped, yet they simply stood there in silence. I wasn't sure if they were staring at me, but their forms were a very uncomfortable still. There was no time to waste. I broke full sprint, running down the winding slope. The fog didn't do much to clear up, and my legs carrying me as fast as they could, I still didn't see a lot in terms of new terrain. The woods were large, the trees looming in half shadow overhead. I saw mangled stumps and plant life here or there all the same, decaying in that sickly air. Finally the path yielded a bit and smoothed, a large gate of some sort manifesting in the haze. A shape just beyond its visage – I froze, it was another marksman and what appeared to be a few more of those macabre hounds. This was a worst case scenario. To confront was not really an option, yet I was a bit locked in, footsteps or some odd sound behind me only a small ways. My gut knotted at the idea of such sinister things lumbering through the wood, snarling and vicious with decay, toxically rotting and shedding their forms in an almost deathly finesse.

Keep moving, plain and simple.

A small clearing off to the side a bit, I quickly split off. I made sure to construct a quick diversion, taking up and tossing a stone off to the opposite side as I got into some of the bush. The hounds down a way turned, barking out to the trees. The marksman no doubt curious checked his rifle, just as two other hounds appeared from the cave end, also curiously entranced. I was vastly outmatched and outnumbered; I held my breath waiting for something, anything that could grant me a clean escape. Miraculously, I got just that.

There was a commotion from the gate end, the marksman and the hounds all quickly picked up on it, stopping their approach and disappearing beyond the fog. What could've snagged their attention I could only guess, but I wasn't about to wait around and find out. With that I kept to the side, the path simply wasn't a good idea. I wasn't sure where this side of the woods would take me, but anywhere was better than here. I began a hasty retreat into the trees, weaving and bobbing through the gray foliage and their dead incantations. I hadn't been running long before I noticed a disturbing detail; I was being followed.

Through some of the clearings I had more open space to run, and during a grotto crossing I had finally accepted the rhythmic patter I'd heard behind me was a singular person in tow. I wanted so desperately to be imagining it, to just have a clean getaway. But as everything up until that point had proven, the cosmos simply had no idea for any such thing. I stopped just before the grotto edge, clutching my rifle tighter than ever. With a quick turn I had it aimed, head level, at what I assumed was a berserking marksman or reaper of the wood. There was nothing, nothing at all. In fact, I was utterly alone. The silence was relieving, but I couldn't ignore that faint disappointment, however insane it might be, that I was still more than a little on my own. That footsteps though, they were clear as day. What bizarre illusions could the woods around me conjure? As I pondered this, I heard a small chuckle. This was blatant, not subtle in the slightest actually.

"Who's there?" I murmured, my rifle still shakily aimed out to the fog, "I'm passing through, I assure you I mean no harm. I've no taint of the beasty plague, however much my word is worth.. "

The woods creaked and groaned in silence, almost mocking me. Was I speaking to myself?

Suddenly, a sharp clang rang out and my feet gave out below me. Something had knocked me off their balance.

I laid there, still at first. No matter how much I scanned around me there was no shape in the fog, just more dreamy haze. The blow was strong – I didn't see what had scooped my feet out but it was more than a little effective. Just then, a shape almost coalesced before me. On my stomach, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a hunter, literally appearing out of thin air in the dingy light. What bizarre magicks were responsible for this? I'd never seen anything like it.

"Outsider? This much seems obvious. But corrupt?"

It was a woman, a young one at that. She wore a long white robe with a peculiar blindfold over her face. She seemed almost a cross between a jester and an embroidered hunter. I suddenly realized she very well may have been responsible for the commotion back a ways.

"I – I'm no beast, I swear it," I replied, noticing the long, razor edged whip waiting on the ground by her side. She was silent, staring down at me with a faint smile on her face. Shaking her head, she retracted the whip.

"You took the blood, as have most, no?" She asked, taking a few steps back.

I didn't know what to say. I indeed received the transfusion, yet I felt if I said yes she'd respond in a manner I wouldn't be too keen on. I needed to tread very lightly.

"The Yharnam blood? No mam." I said, not sure if my face was giving my intentions away.

Her smile disappeared. I was a bit worried now – perhaps I was too transparent. She looked off into the woods, deep in thought about something.

"Yurie, the name is."

This was good, perhaps she'd let me live yet.

"I could use an extra hand. You see, these woods are rather plentiful with research resources. Perhaps you could assist me?"

I couldn't believe it, she was here willingly? On research? Beyond that, she wanted my help? It really was a surreal place. I had no reason to say no though, and certainly no reason to put up a fight. She seemed well enough equipped at that anyhow. With that I got up, Yurie down a few meters. She turned and pointed down a vague path.

"Byrgenwerth. Follow me, and be quiet."

Byrgenwerth? Our destination? I nodded and found my pace again. In all of the sinister and warped things these woods contained, how could anyone research anything out here? Yurie's intentions were just as bizarre and unknown as the rest of this, and I at least mentally prepared for the inevitable fight I may have to engage in with her in the future. All the same, comradery was a refreshing change, and I found some faint comfort having someone to travel with. I briefly thought of Eileen, of the others of my ilk in Yharnam, lost among the fire and beast waste. I could only hope our destination would provide some sanctuary, wherever or whatever it was.


	6. Chapter 6

.

 **VI**

 **A Scholar's Work**

"How did you do that? Manifest out of thin air all of a sudden? I've never seen magicks like that," I said, trying to keep up with Yurie's rather fast pace.

Up ahead she chuckled a bit, the only reassuring sound this gloomy wood could offer funny enough.

"An elixir of sorts. Commonplace among the scholars of old – or rather, the fallen church they so idealized," she finally replied. She stopped, me following suit. We'd been walking for some time now, I didn't even realize the atmosphere of the forest had darkened significantly, as if a morbid canopy quietly loomed overhead. The hairs on the back of my neck prickling, I moved a bit closer to my guide and frankly, guardian.

"There are.. questionable things up ahead until we make it to the building. Stay close, with nightfall they get even more vicious." Her voice had sunk a bit, she seemed to be preparing, at least mentally.

 _They._

I didn't like that, and considering the surplus of macabre forms shuffling through the woods behind us, I could only imagine what could make Yurie so uncomfortable. I didn't see a point in asking questions, and simply nodded, catching some movement behind a ways. I wanted to reach our destination quickly more than ever now.

We kept our pace, and as we trekked farther down the path, I saw a large shape up ahead. Ominous, enormous, silent, it stared out from between the trees. I remembered that dream, that house up the curve, the sullen owners waiting. This was another building, though weathered and alone here in these eerie woods. There were faint glows of candles inside it appeared, a few lanterns still shining diligently here or there in small patches on the property, a ubiquitous and sinister darkness hovering just outside. We had to make our way through that to safety, and I braced for whatever could jump out. I still at least had a rifle. As we approached, a scent I couldn't quite recognize struck my nose. The earthen tones of the trees, blood, rot – none of these quite matched the figure. Perhaps something inside? Even stranger, I thought I could smell water, possibly even hearing faint waves a ways down.

"Is there water nearby?" I asked, almost sickly all of a sudden, thankful a door inside was finally visible.

Yurie was silent, and even kept walking as I stopped, finally ceasing at the door. Upon opening it she turned and simply nodded before disappearing inside. I wasn't going to wait out with the things prowling around, and quickly made it through the door behind her.

It was a lot bigger than I thought inside, and messy to match. Candles littered spaces here or there, softly glowing in an almost relaxing peace. There were books everywhere, on the ground as much as on the shelves. Beakers with dubious concoctions within were almost as present. I began to finally piece that this was a place of research, of learning. Yurie perhaps was a student of sorts – or a specialized one I supposed. That unknown smell was indeed from inside, and now stronger, it was much harder to ignore. I could only assume it was an unknown mix of chemicals for some odd purpose or another. A large staircase rose out of the center, almost gracefully draped in a prestigious sheen of velvet and finally polished wood.

"This is quite the safe haven. Are you researching something here?" I asked, my curiosity finally getting the better of my silence.

"Indeed I am. My colleagues and I are on the verge of something grand," she replied, heading to the stairs, "I've some spare ammunition on the next floor. I believe there may even be a few workshop weapons in storage too." She pointed up above and over a bit, I could see a faint silhouette – another staircase. This was grand news. Sharpening my defense was a need at this point in my journey, or whatever it had turned into.

I followed her, climbing the stairs still in a daze.

"What are you looking into? The plague?" I said as we reached the top. Surely someone as sharp as her was on the apex of culling this sickly herd.

"You could say that," she mumbled, approaching a large door. This floor was just as the floor below, and I even noticed some nice leisure furniture off to the side. She stopped, and quickly turned to me. She looked at me with a frightening still.

"Don't go through these doors, a lot of _them_ congregate outside here. It's just not a good idea."

I didn't quite follow. Considering I was about to restock, and her prowess, I figured we may even be somewhat prepared for some bloodshed. I couldn't deny I was somewhat craving it, although only to the satisfaction extent. One final detail that bugged me was that a lock, very visible on the door, was still quite unlocked. Why would she leave a vital point like that open? I couldn't deny it didn't really add up. Yet, I was not going to argue with her, still not exactly certain what we were dealing with. Coincidentally she reached up and locked it promptly, as if sensing my gaze. I nodded and headed off to the stairs up to the next floor – which turned out to actually be a ladder. As I climbed I looked back at the door, Yurie was gone however. This quite disturbed me, but only in that I was alone now. I could only hope she was nearby still.

The next floor was much smaller, darker, and sparser at that. A spiral staircase along the side disappeared up into the dark to higher floors it would seem. I saw some mess on the floor before me, and upon approaching, realized it was actually a pile of hunter's garbs. Sure enough, ammunition was plentiful among these forgotten wares. And after sifting through a few broken items here or there, I even found a working saw cleaver. I chuckled, this was the best luck I've had since the hollow men attack in Yharnam. I turned and caught something familiar. Through a window below, I saw the faint glow of a lantern, a hunter's lantern out in the darkness. Among the little bubbles of light in that cryptic dark, it seemed almost a separate little world. That dreamy lilac whispered to me softly as I realized how exhausted I actually was. I felt my knees getting a bit easy, and decided to sit down. Wherever Yurie was, I'm sure she wouldn't mind me taking a small rest.

The peace was short lived however, as strange noises began ringing out just above me on the next floor. I couldn't quite make it out, but it sounded _inhuman._ Short, raspy breaths, faintly hissing in the darkness above. Perhaps it was one of _them._ I shuttered at the thought, and got up, briefly approaching the staircase. A yawning darkness beamed out at me up the stairs, all the warning I needed to not get closer. Yet as I turned, I heard a cry out of the dark, and was immediately on the ground with an unknown form on top of me.

It hissed and spat viscous and thick fluid onto my chest and my face. In the immediate panic I shielded my eyes and forced it off me with a quick turn. The smell was unbearable, and I could barely catch my breath as the thing stepped back a bit, hidden in the absolute dark now. I was dizzy again, the ground pulsing below me.

It _knew_ I couldn't see it.

It screeched and charged, me pulling my rifle out just in time. A lucky shot knocked it down, but didn't kill it. I wasn't going to wait around however, and immediately slid down the ladder. I called out to Yurie; it seemed appropriate to warn her the things hiding up above, yet she was still nowhere to be found. I couldn't wait around for her however, almost certain those things were more likely than not what she was referring to earlier. I sprinted to the big door. She had explicitly told me not to use it, but I could only hope she maybe disappeared through them. I needed to at least find out for sure. With that I flung open the lock and burst through.

The sight was actually quite peaceful. A large moon stared down at me, hovering just over a large lake. We appeared to be up on a raised platform, withered and decayed as much as the building behind me. There was what appeared to be a man resting nearby, but before I had time to take it in – as well as savor that there weren't more of whatever had attacked me – it caught up. I had little time to react, and took aim, this time taking out its legs. It fell before it made the fatal leap I'd imagine, just before me and my unknown guest. It was fly like; giant orange eyes littered its enormous and deformed head. Wing like protrusions stuck out from its back, clothed in scholar like attire. Were these Yurie's colleagues? I felt a pit in my stomach I truly couldn't comprehend in that moment. There really was nowhere safe. I quivered even moreso at the thought that Yurie was aware of these things - exactly _how aware_ was she? Regardless, this abomination, its mucous and slime spattering here or there with each painful convulsion, was truly one of the most horrid things I'd ever seen. I made sure to make my last shot fatal, point blank emptying the side of its head onto the stone beside us.

Standing in silence, I waited. There wasn't any others thankfully. My heart was still racing, dizzy and disoriented I fell to my knees. Just then I heard a long and drawn out chuckle from beside me, my unknown guest found something humorous. With each laugh my insides writhed and my brain pulsed curious rhythms. I felt a way I couldn't really describe. My thoughts raced and seized, unable to track, unable to comprehend.

 _The lake._

A voice said in my head. This was not my voice, it was old, old and seasoned with melancholy and dread. I couldn't deny a sickening glee to it though, and a maddening certainty that it just might be from the old man, who I now realized was simply rocking peacefully, musing before the moon. Upon my studying of him, he was quite still however, simply pointing and grunting in incoherent babble. He too wore a blindfold like Yurie, and was dressed quite extravagantly in high class robe considering the surroundings. The noble moonlight almost gave him a ghostly glow, and in his age, he appeared almost statue like, full of an ancient wisdom. It was safe to assume he wasn't all there all the same however, and I slowly turned to the lake, to where he so vehemently pointed in his stupor. I got up, staggering to the edge. I still wasn't all there myself, strange colors and patterns flashed and wove into my periphery. I felt anxious, I felt excited, I felt angry; every sensation I could imagine forced its way to my conscious surface, almost nudging me into the water below. I remembered the blood, the thirst for battle, I was changing. No matter how I focused I couldn't figure out how though, and the thought drove me even more into a deeper haze, a _frenzy._

I looked down into the water, into the churning darkness.

 _The spider._

He was still in my head. What was happening to me?

The water called out, hissing quietly its incantations. Something stirred below. This realization was sudden, and hit me with staggering potency. I wasn't sure how I knew, but among the buzzing, the pusling, the almost singing in that silence, in my head, I saw something beyond the silver wall. I became aware I was leaning forward, peering deep into the waters alluring and almost macabre beauty. It called to me. It _knew._

My legs moved on their own, and I stepped off, jumping straight into the lake. It felt right, it was the most certain thing I'd done my entire journey here. The tones and sounds stayed eerily silent, as if the world were frozen. The old man was gone, I was gone, Byrgenwerth or whatever was gone with Yurie too. I was in darkness, shimmers of silver shined below. I fell and fell for what felt like an eternity.

The void had truly swallowed me.


	7. Chapter 7

.

 **VII**

 **Beyond the Silver Wall**

 **Pt.1**

 _Listen to her speak, if you can._

Suddenly there was a white sky. The deep and undying darkness had ceased. I sat up, disoriented and still almost completely unaware of the horizon.

I was surrounded by bright tones. There was a thin layer of water below me, only an inch or so it seemed. It shimmered and reflected the mirror sky above, converging with a bizarre synergy at the horizon before me, an infinity away I'd almost say. It all would've been at least somewhat pleasant at first, until I noticed a shape resting on the distant line, almost at the center of everything, as if pulling in the universe. Ominous, quiet, it sat still, me somehow feeling its gaze. I felt sick, and the events of the world above – or so I speculated – were slowly coming back to me. I stared at my reflection below. I was thinning, almost skeletal. My eyes had become a listless and empty dark as well. I really was changing, even physically. Was this because of the blood? That 'Yharnam blood' Yurie had commented on, that old blood the church so explicitly feared on their gravestones? I couldn't piece any of it together, not without more information. Now my curiosity was piqued. The hunter title may still rest, but I couldn't deny this being more pressing, my body literally responding in the most mortal way possible.

The shape hummed, beckoning me across the silver wall.

I got up and found myself staggering up and forward, the light sloshing of the water keeping me in rhythm. I wanted so desperately to see what it was, to see that thing that called out beneath the watery veil, even if I knew I wouldn't be able to stand it. I could barely stand much of anything else at this point.

The closer I got, the more hideous detail revealed naturally. I began seeing long, spindly limbs, which eventually became legs. A large, bulbous body carried the sickly appendages, covered in writhing muscle and hair here or there. My heart felt as if it would leave my chest as my legs finally stopped just before it. Here I began to truly appreciate its horribly divine presence. Its head covered with eyes, hundreds of slimy, twitching eyeballs sealed into a deformed and obtuse skull, bulging out from the body as if exploded from within. It appeared to be almost 'made' of a material I'd never seen. Somewhat organic I suppose, but a texture of macabre gray and rich earth tone mixed with almost stone like flesh, alien and cold. This was a sight that I imagined I wouldn't have been able to comprehend at all a few days back, when all of this was unknown to me, when I was away from this madness on Earth. The sounds coming from it were truly the hardest to stomach however. The pulsing, slime like churning the insect like scholar at Byrgenwerth gave off was reminiscent, but this was a larger scale variant. This was a quiet, still, _breathing._ In fact, its entire body moved with what I wasn't even sure I could call breaths. There was no reason to even assume it had the same workings, it was simply that alien in design. Among the small and repulsive sounds, there was a much more intense, much deeper tone. I began to realize it wasn't the body responsible, it was the thing itself, its own mind screaming out of the physical body at me. The thing's ego was bursting into my seams, its very presence crashing down on me and my pathetic and tiny form.

I began to get weaker, my legs giving out.

 _The spider._

The old man had saw this, even warned me. The thing below us was a step to the ascendant, a silent paradox of hyper-consciousness, quietly musing and evolving. I was evolving, I could feel it. I knew this all along. I saw my reflection smile insidiously, a fear overcoming me as I realized I wasn't sure if it was me or the image below that was so gleeful of this revelation. My own ego was dissolving before the spider's immense mind, my body falling apart. I wasn't just getting sicker, I was quite seriously on my way to utter oblivion.

Nothing mattered, nothing existed. My mind was only an image staring back at itself. The spider so patiently taught me this in its silence. It truly was a beauty to behold the divine.

I could hear small steps in my delirium. My head felt heavy, but forcing it up, I was greeted with more of the spider's ilk, albeit smaller. A group of spiders had seemingly manifested around us, all similar in appearance to the mother before me. They paced in place back and forth, their bulbous, shelled heads locked onto me, or so it felt. I began noticing my own body moving in rhythm to their sways, here or there catching a glimpse of the grin I couldn't keep off of my reflection's face. It wasn't me, it couldn't be me. I didn't want to even believe I was there, I just wanted it to be a dream, the hunter's dream. I so craved that lilac, that safety, the sane world above, or something much closer to the shadow. Here, I was changing beyond my control, I was morphing into something I couldn't even fathom. I heard whispers, hissing and cursing around me, maliciously modifying my sentience. It was hard to tell if it was coming from the smaller spiders, but the whispers began rising in volume to my surprise. The subtle force from the mother began increasing too, a pressure pushing my body down even more. This was truly the vanguard of my mind's last grasps at reality, my ego expanding beyond my control, spinning and neurotically clawing at consciousness the best it could as these things pushed me farther and farther beyond.

She was not just in my head, but in my body. I was already changing, but I felt the apex was without a doubt just at my feet. I didn't want to evolve, I didn't want to change like this, I didn't want to merge into her intelligence. I simply didn't want to be at all anymore.

My ego finally giving out, the blackness of my transition there finally returned. With the world around me vanishing, the body around my breaking mind, almost mercifully, followed suit.


	8. Chapter 8

_._

 **VIII**

 **A Hideous Village**

 _A hunter must hunt._

I saw a flock of crows, black feathered shapes intertwined in the inky blackness. Her voice, a warmth, a familiarity; I moved towards it but it moved away, the thought just out of reach. There was true nothingness, simply nothingness.

My body was empty – no, gone.

I saw so many different shades of color, hazily lighting up in the distant darkness. My body, my mind, somewhere stretched across them. I was always a dreamer, a visual type, my mind's eye cut with years of quietly musing my time away. I began to wonder if I'd wasted it, if I had anything to show for my existence. It was all behind me now, or so it seemed. Massless, I meticulously pondered everything I'd done up into that point, everything and everyone I'd seen, all of the horrid and repulsive acts of carnage that had fallen before me, and even by my hand. If this was the endgame, I truly had a morbid canvas painted.

The crow pattern screamed out at me, manifesting once more in the kaleidoscopic emptiness. I felt something resembling legs, my legs, my body, pushing me forward. It was all still there, hidden in nonexistence, but indeed still there. I felt space warp around me, my mind feeling almost recognition. Fragments of my life pieced together and obliterated instantly, a repeating pattern of creation and destruction skewed within my drowning ego. Was I there? Was I even me?

 _A hunter must hunt._

I was a hunter. I was someone with a job to do. A purpose, a calling out under the crimson moon, beyond this silver wall and psychic glass. I felt needles, small pains crawling up my form. I was coming together, I was pulling my body through the void. I could do this. Suddenly, I was.

 _I am._

I couldn't breathe. Everything was in pain, and the stench on the air was nearly incomprehensible. The eerie red glow I saw in the darkness had lightened, but spread to a huge and yawning sprawl of sky. I began gasping for air, trying with everything in me to get up. I had no strength, and my head was spinning faster and faster with every breath. I saw buildings around me, decrepit and ruined. It was a familiar decay; there was no doubt, I was back to the hellish world above.

Me, or whatever I had scrounged together in the Spider's blackness, had painfully reassembled into existence. Now, before me, was a macabre ruin, screaming and howling monstrosities calling out in the distance. I was in a small building, a thin layer of water encircling me. The roof had fallen through, and morbid statues of decrepit and alien like shapes eerily stared down at me from the room's corners. Finally pulling together some snippet of strength, I stood up and got out of the small puddle and bowl housing it. I heard an eerie chiming of a bell of sorts somewhere off in the distance. Growls and groans of a most unearthly type rang out beyond even that; this place was no doubt somewhere I shouldn't be. I was in a sort of shock, still not sure if the experience if the spider had even happened, or rather, was even capable of actually happening. Yet this was all a play of

I stepped out beyond the door and into the open air. I seemed to be on a higher level, a thin and rotting bridge before me, and one even a bit farther down to my left along the dwelling's upper level I seemed to be on. Below, along a long dirt path in both directions, were large and amorphous clumps of corpses, shambling and crawling through the dust and carnage of a dead town - or whatever this dwelling place was. They lurched and groaned in sick and deathly wails, their bodies and their many arms swaying and reaching erratically. What abominations were these? I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were abandoned carriages here or there, wreaking and decaying in the silent ruin the town rested in. This place was devoid of all sane life; like many other locations along my journey, I seemed utterly alone among the madness.

I saw the spider again. She whispered of a college, a group of minds, a schism tumbling down. A man pulled a group away. This man did something unspeakable – and this town was the result. I couldn't make out any names, but I saw the horror and sheer terror on so many blank faces as they were ripped from their bodies, as their consciousness' dissolved into a screaming void above. I froze in a sort of panic for a second, only halfway across the bridge, an ominous tone ringing out along the air. I couldn't see it but I could somehow in my mind's eye, perhaps even the spider guiding me along. I saw a mass, a sick and decrepit amalgam of corpses and death, a whispering and sinister pulse steering it through the blackness, guiding thousands of screaming souls through torturous oblivion. I wanted nothing but distance, absolute escape from this thing, this force along the chimes of the sullen bells. I was truly in hell. I couldn't shake the minor catharsis of having my mind back, my ego moreso – free of the spider crushing it into nothingness – but here I was surrounded by an evil I'd yet to experience. This place and these poor souls, churning and screaming in agony beyond the veil; the only option was to get away.

Behind me was a sudden growl of sorts. Upon turning, I saw another abomination. A large dog like beast of the rotting flesh sort stared at me just beyond the darkness inside the building. I immediately knew I was outmatched, my rifle long gone it seemed. I sprinted towards the end of the bridge, a small way down it seemed among the crumbling architecture. I could hear its heavy steps behind me, its sick grunting and heaving as it tried to catch up, its limbs creaking in a slimy wrenching sound. The snarls conveyed ever so clearly how much this thing wanted me dead, and I didn't waste time clearing a nearby ledge and hopping down protrusions along the wall, the bridge and hell hound above. It stared silently as I ran off, turning back only once to catch its cold gaze. The masses of bodies below the bridge stirred amongst their own mechanisms, yawning for more death and rot for them to consume. I was more than happy to get away from them and the hell hound, following a large hill down. It opened into a large plaza, a tower just opposite on the other end. I stood, the unholy chiming louder than ever now. Along the sides were more multilevel structures, the chiming seemingly reaching out just beyond.

Then I heard it.

The ringing, but not just any ringing, this was a truly horrid tone. It buzzed in my bones, my knees weakening and flesh crawling that much more. I had only just got my body back but could already feel that familiar haziness, that distorted ego under a truly great mind. This wasn't the chaos of the spider though, this was a true madness, a truly sickening churning of agony and loss. It was above me, in the sky, ringing out along the bells. I could feel it, the air pressure changing, a force peering down at me – I couldn't stay calm any longer. On the other side of the plaza, there was a set of stairs going up out of sight into the tower. Breaking into sprint, I charged through the plaza, the moaning and cries of the creatures behind me, and the evil in the air coursing all around. As I ran, I got more and more fearful, more and more aware of just how wrong this space was, and how I simply shouldn't be there. As I made my run up the stairs, still unsure of where I was even headed, I heard the chimes reach a crescendo, a sick pealing sound tearing through the air. I briefly glanced above, and saw an enormous sphere of inky black growing in silence, almost fluctuating with the bell's screams. I couldn't stay still any longer, and continued my run, a room just ahead in the quiet. I swore I wouldn't turn back, but this feat proved to be almost impossible, the sick and wretched sounds of the thing behind me getting louder and louder, it manifesting more and more into something I could only imagine. As I approached the opening to the room, strange shapes just beyond its entrance, I was struck with a blast. An immense and burning flare of hissing light knocked me down from behind. I heard cursed whispers and hexes ringing along its air. I was barely conscious long enough to even register it as my sight once again darkened, the entrance just before me to what I could only hope was a salvation, or at least a respite. The cold ground held me in an almost mocking hardness, and ruin surrounding as if to recall the imminent death of all things. I felt my vision go, as I pulled my body with every bit of might into the door, which now was only a metaphysical structure, my mind slipping off. I wasn't sure if I would wake up, I didn't even want to truthfully, not anymore – but I knew anywhere was better than whatever the monsters behind me had in store for my sickly form, whatever that thing and its horrific black sphere planned to do beyond the veil. Anywhere was better than here.

I found in a moment I was still awake however, and kept my strength despite being unable to walk. I pulled myself bit by bit into the room, the thing in the plaza making truly incomprehensible sounds, in frenzy at a target it had somehow lost. A small staircase before me, a being sat in a chair, dead silent in ashen decay. Upon his head was a tall and strange hat, a cage of sorts. I realized in slow horror that the walls were aligned with row after row of similarly put together characters, strapped to chairs as well. All silent in death, silent in whatever bizarre fate I could only imagine on them. Dimly lit, they all signaled abstract and warped spaces ahead, and my skin crawled at what mental terror they must have experienced in their last minutes. I had to get closer, the one at the top beckoned in a curious and indescribable curiosity. As I approached I saw the decay that had eaten his form, the age and time that burned his corpse in this cursed air. It was the omnipresent death of this village, this hideous village, and through him was another abstract hole to fall through, another fractal dissent for the cursed spider to hiss and whisper in its insane divinity. I needed to be there, I needed to go further, I needed to follow the nightmare to the end. I pulled myself up his shambled form when I finally reached the top, his bones and body creaking in sickly manners, almost snapping like foliage.

My mind almost immediately gave out, the all too familiar darkness enveloping me once more. I saw the spider, then a giant pile of corpses, writhing and chanting curses along eternities in that void. I saw them disappear in a distance, a hideous tower and grotesque eye staring down within it. I saw a creature of formless splendor at the top, interwoven into the stinging air among the presence of a madman and the thing he called down to make it to these twisted grounds. These horrors, these truths, what was the spider trying to show me? Was it trying to show me anything? Then I began to wonder if this was true madness, if I had finally become one of them. I'd seen so much, it was only natural I'd argue. So many shed the bodies here for a truth that was not worth the cost - or rather, their bodies couldn't _be_ here. This dream, this place beyond the lilac and cathedrals, was only the worst kind of nightmare.


End file.
